


Haven't Had Enough

by miraculousmultifan



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Pirates and Mermaids, Alternate Universe - Princes, Alternate Universe - Prom, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Alternate Universe - Swimming, Alternate Universe - Theatre, Based on a Marianas Trench Song, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Rated teen for language, and music video i guess, collection of AUs that are connected, i'm writing this before season 8 comes out, okay yeah theres a lot of AUs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-09-12 19:58:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16878261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculousmultifan/pseuds/miraculousmultifan
Summary: "Hey! Watch where you're going!""Watch where I'm-? You're the one who bumped into me!""Well, you should have been paying attention to your surroundings, anyway.""Ugh, you're such an asshole!"And with that, the man with the mullet poured the rest of his drink on Lance's head.___________________________________________________________________________________After a bad experience at a house party, Lance finds himself following Keith through different realities. The only problem is, he doesn't remember any of it. But as the adventure continues, Lance discovers he is remembering more and more of his experiences. The only thing he can't figure out is why all of this is happening.





	1. We Just Got The Start Wrong

“Lance, please just try to be civilized…” Hunk whined, pleadingly

“What do you mean, Hunk! I’m always civilized. I am the definition of civilized. There is no one more- Hey! Where are you going?”

Unbeknownst to Lance, Hunk had become fed up with his spiel and decided to walk faster. As much as he loved Lance, even Hunk couldn’t put up with his constant chattering.

“Why are you speeding away from me?!” Lance cried. A couple people nearby turned their heads to look at him quizzically, and he hung his head and waved at them in apology.

“Look, Lance, I get it. You’re excited to see Allura, but could we maybe tone it down a bit? It’s making me nervous, and I don’t want to mess anything up in front of Shay. Things are going well at the moment, and I would hate for something to ruin it.”

Lance managed a grin as he replied, “Don’t worry, Hunk. I promise I won’t do anything to embarrass you in front of Shay. You just promise me you won’t show Allura any pictures from my childhood or something.”

Hunk laughed, “Now that you’ve given me the idea, how can I not? Relax, relax. I’m kidding. Yes, Lance. I promise I won’t show Allura any of your middle school selfies.”

As they arrived at the door to Allura and Shay’s party, Lance took note of the vibrating of the door frame and the cheers coming from inside. It sounded like a real rager. The music was blasting so loud you could just about hear it in the next town over, and the lights were as bright as the sun in the middle of the summer.

Hunk looked over his shoulder at Lance before opening the door and saying, “Are you ready?”

With that, the music flooded out through the door frame onto the front yard as kids with red solo cups wandered through the party hitting on anything and everything. Literally everything. Lance noticed a girl winking and trying to talk up a potted plant. Needless to say, it didn’t look like it was very interested.

Hunk scanned the front room and turned to Lance to say, “Alright. I’m going to go find Shay. Have fun buddy!”

Lance sighed, knowing nothing he could say would stop Hunk from ditching him now. Except maybe,  _ “AHHH OH MY GOD THERE’S A FIRE! QUICK EVERYONE OUT! AHHHH FIRE!!”  _ But that would stop  _ everyone _ , not just Hunk, while also embarrassing Hunk greatly, which Lance promised he wouldn’t do, so Lance decided against that plan. He reluctantly came to the conclusion that his  _ only  _ chance at  _ not _ getting eaten alive at this party would be to find Allura. Sweet, lovely Allura. Or Nyma. Lance wasn’t picky when choosing the two, although he did slightly prefer Allura. Don’t tell Nyma, though.

Lance stopped in the kitchen on the way to the lounge and discovered a big bowl with what looked to be green goo inside. Feeling adventurous, Lance grabbed himself a cup and dumped a  _ heaping _ portion of goo into it. He took a sip and  _ immediately _ regretted it. Not only was the “punch” spiked with sparkling bourbon, it didn’t taste good either! Lance dumped the rest of his drink down the drain, threw out the cup, and proceeded slowly forward into the lounge, his ears fending off the wall of sound that he was being attacked by.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her. Allura. The queen of the high school, and the host of this absolute rager of a party. She was talking to a girl with blonde hair with a name that lance couldn’t quite remember.  _ Was it Rachel? Roxanne? Something with an ‘R’, definitely… _ Lance shrugged it off and started swaggering his way up to Allura, but he was stopped by a man with a hideous mullet who was standing in the way, swaying to the music. Lance tried to move out of the way, but he was too late and ended up bumping into him. Then, without fail, everything went to shit. Due to Lance’s unawareness of his surrounds, the man had spilled most of his drink down the front of his shirt. Lance, preoccupied by Allura, decided the best course of action would be to say,

“Hey! Watch where you're going!"

"Watch where _ I'm- _ ? You're the one who bumped into me!" The man fumed.

"Well, you should have been paying attention to your surroundings, anyway." Lanced mumbled, loud enough for anyone listening, which it seemed everyone at the party was doing, to hear. Even Rhonda Whatsherface was watching intently.

"Ugh, you're such an asshole!" And with that, the man with the mullet poured the rest of his drink on Lance's head before stomping away. Lance, determined to get in the last word, yells back,

“Oh, yeah? Well, you- You- You’re an idiot!”

The man with the mullet slowly turns back around with a blank face, makes direct eye contact with Lance, then snaps his fingers.

And then everything went dark.


	2. No More Last Place

Lance and his team had been practicing for this meet for months on end in preparation for the coming swim meet. Lance was determined to make this meet his best one yet. This was his last year on the team before he graduates, and he wanted to make it count. Lance was hopeful that he would get a lot of personal bests, especially because of how hard he had trained all year. His teachers had even gotten worried about him academically because it seemed that he was more focused on swimming than schoolwork. Being the team captain didn’t help. As the captain, he had to help the coaches with warm-ups, think of a new team cheer every practice, and keep everyone’s spirits up all the time. Needless to say, Lance was becoming terribly exhausted, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. Lance was going to swim the  _ crap _ out of that swim meet!

* * *

 

Once the team got to the aquatic center where the meet was being held, they set up camp in the stand closest to the locker rooms. After land training and warm-ups, Lance called the the first few simmers up to get ready for the first event of the day. Game on!

“Allura, Romelle, Pidge. Women’s 50 meter backstroke is up first. Head down to the call room for marshalling. Let’s go, Voltron!” Lance cheered, trying to hype the team up. It was a little difficult considering the fact that it was 9:00 am on a Saturday. Two-day weekend meets are always the worst.

A couple hours and multiple events later, it was time for Lance’s first race. The 200 meter Individual Medley. He left Hunk in charge of preparing the team for the next races, and then he headed down to the call room. 

On his way, Lance passed the stand where one of the other competing teams, the Blade of Marmora, were sitting. As he walked by, he made eye contact with one of the other swimmers. A mildly attractive man with a mullet. He seemed familiar to Lance for some reason, but Lance shrugged it off, reasoning that he had probably just seen the man at a different competition. Lance shook his head to clear his mind and continued down to the call room to prepare for his race.

As always, Lance’s heat was full of strong swimmers. There was Lotor, who Lance had competed with before, Rolo, who was fairly new, but was already a strong swimmer, and Matt, Pidge’s brother and one of Lance’s friends.

“You ready to be left in the waves of my kicks, Matt?” Lance taunted.

“You’re on. If I don’t beat you, Pidge is never going to let me live it down.” Matt replied back.

It’s always nice to have a friend in your heat, so you don’t have to stay humble when you beat them by a landslide. Which, coincidentally, is exactly what Lance did. Lance was proud of his time. 2:12:24 is a pretty good time for the 200 IM, especially with the 2 second personal best! Matt was only slower by 3 seconds, but those 3 seconds made all the difference. Granted, Lotor did beat Lance out of first place at 2:08:37, but that’s understandable considering Lotor has been training for a lot longer than Lance has.

After the race, Lance headed back to the stands to talk with his coach, Coran, about how he did, but on his way, Lance locked eyes with Mullet Man again. This time, the man narrowed his eyes and pursed his downturned lips.  “Jeez. What’s  _ his _ problem?” Lance thought to himself out loud.

 

* * *

 

Lance tried to keep the team’s spirits up as the meet dragged on. Soon, it was lunch time, and Lance proposed they head down to the cafeteria to hang out and regenerate. And of course, as was expected by now, Mullet Man was there. He was drinking an espresso from the coffee shop and reading  _ The Secret Life of Bees _ . He seemed to be lost in the book, so Lance pointed him out to Hunk. Lance told him about how he seemed familiar, to which Hunk said,

“Dude, don’t you remember? That’s Keith. Keith Kogane. We used to go to middle school with him before he dropped out. It looks like he joined the Blade of Marmora…”

Lance tried to think back as far as he could, but nothing really seemed to click. All that came to his mind was the smell of sparkling bourbon and the sound of harsh words being thrown, although he didn’t know why.

“Nothing comes to mind. I guess I just didn’t see him around.” Lance shrugged.

Lance turned back to look at Keith only to notice that Romelle was over there talking to him. SHe seemed to be winking and trying to woo him. Keith was trying to seem polite, but it was clear he wasn’t really into it. That is until he saw Lance watching. Keith locked eyes with Lance, gave him a subtle wink and a smir, and then turned to Romelle and appeared to be enjoying every word that fell out of her mouth. Lance blinked rapidly, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Hunk shook Lance’s shoulder. “Alright, buddy. It’s your turn to order.”

Lance spun around to face the cashier quickly, apologized for holding up the line, and ordered his food.   
  


* * *

 

 

Lance was up and ready for his first race of the afternoon. He had just warmed up, so he was starting to feel pumped. “100 meter Breaststroke, here I come.”

As Lance went down to the call room for marshalling, he noticed that Keith wasn’t sitting in the stands. Lance tried not to worry about it, and turned back to marshalling, but low and behold, there he was. Keith was sitting in the lane chair right next to his. “Why does life have to hate me so much?”

Lance sighed dejectedly and made his way over to the chair. He was hoping Keith wouldn’t try to make awkward conversation. Unfortunately for Lance, as soon as he sat down, Keith breathed in like he was about to say something.

“H-” Keith started to say before Lance cut him off.

“Don’t even talk to me,” Lance said, crossing his arms across his chest and turning his head the other direction.

“What? Why? What did I even do?” Keith frowned, narrowing his eyes into a glare.

“Well, uh… You were looking at me earlier, and… Well, it was weird, okay?!” Lance stammered, feeling a little embarrassed that he even brought it up.

“As far as I’m aware, looking at someone isn’t a crime, dumbass.” Keith was angry now. He seemed like he wanted to snap Lance in half, which Lance couldn’t really understand. He only asked him not to talk to him… Lance was starting to regret saying anything at all. They still had 7 more heats before their race. “You know what, I’m  _ am _ going to stop talking to you now. That’s what you wanted, right? I hope you’re glad you made this uncomfortable and awkward.”

Lance frowned. Why did he have to go and say anything? Maybe Keith was going to say something nice… Now  _ he _ looks like the jerk instead of Keith.

 

* * *

 

Lance was upset. After his fight (Is that what you would even call it?) with Keith, he wasn’t focused enough for his race. He still tried to beat everyone, due to his competitive nature, but he didn’t swim as well as he could have. Keith only beat him by a little bit, and Lance was sad about it. When Hunk told him that the rankings were up on the wall. Lance sprinted up the stands to see. 

Second place. Lance got second place. And you know who came first? Keith. By 0.01 seconds. Lance was dejected, but what made it even worse was the sound that came from behind him. Chuckling. Lance turned around to see Keith standing there with a smug smirk on his face. And then he snapped his fingers.

 

And everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of this chapter is based on my experience at a swim meet where one of the girls beat me out of 3rd place by 0.01 seconds. It was frustrating, but I wasn't as hurt as Lance is lol. I have been swimming for a while, so I'm sorry if some of the language or writing is hard to understand. I also like to headcanon the strokes that some of the main characters are the best at. Allura seems like a backstroke gal, Lance is definitely a breaststroke guy, Keith is a butterfly man, Hunk is a breaststroker too, and Pidge is a freestyler. I feel like Shiro is more a coach or team manager than a swimmer tbh. Now that I'm thinking about it, I probably should have started this fic after season 8 because there is no way I am going to finish this fic beforehand, even if there aren't all that many chapters.


	3. You Better Get Your Story Straight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith are princes discussing the tensions between the kingdoms of their realm.

“Lance, it is time. Please go get dressed in your negotiation suit to meet Prince Keith of the Marmora.” King Alejandro ordered, sounding slightly more stressed than usual.

Prince Keith. Why does that name sound familiar? Has Father mentioned him before?

“Prince Keith?” Lance asked.

“Is there a problem with that, Lance? Do I need to remind you that this meeting with, yes, you heard me right, _Prince Keith,_ could make or break this tension between the kingdoms? I know you’ve never been outside the castle, but you’ve matured. I trust that you will keep this kingdom safe.” King Alejandro assured his son. Prince Lance looked down at the floor and shook his head sheepishly. Keith, Keith, Keith. He really hadn’t heard that name before? It seemed pretty common to Prince Lance, but he deduced that it was because he had been cooped up in the castle his whole life and just hadn’t met any Keiths. Weird. Prince Lance cleared his mind before walking back to his chamber to prepare for his meeting that would more or less determine the fate of his kingdom and the neighboring ones.  


* * *

 

After Prince Lance finished powdering his face and styling a single curl of hair in front of his forehead, he was finally ready for the meeting. He walked down the front steps of the castle towards the carriage that awaited him.

“Hey, Lance. Off to the Marmora palace?” Hunk, the coachman, greeted Prince Lance with a smile. Lance smiled back half-heartedly and shrugged.

“Yeah. My dad says that this meeting will determine the future of the kingdoms, so I’m sorry that I’m not excited.” Hunk winced at that.

“Ooh. That’s rough, buddy. Well, best of luck, and I hope you don’t start a war.” Prince Lance grimaced and spent the rest of the carriage ride silently contemplating what he was going to say. It was difficult because Lance had never sat in on any of the political meetings regarding Terra’s relationships with the other kingdoms before. He didn’t know the least about the political affairs of the kingdoms.

Prince Lance stepped out of the carriage to see the Marmoran palace towering above him. As his eyes wandered farther and farther up the wall, Prince Lance noticed a very attractive and _familiar_ looking man. The man had been staring out at the mountains beyond the palace walls surrounding them, but when the carriage had approached the steps, he had shifted his attention to Prince Lance, who was staring up at him with his mouth agape. Prince Lance was reminded briefly of… _chairs? In rows? What is that about?_ The man’s lips quirked slightly at the edges before Prince Lance called up to him,

“Are you Prince Keith? I’m Prince Lance of Terra. Our parents scheduled a meeting to negotiate.” Prince Keith’s faint smile flickered away before he replied, deadpan,

“Of course. I will call someone to bring you in.”

 

* * *

 

Prince Lance waited on the steps for half an hour before the doors to the palace finally opened. He breathed out a sigh of relief. He was starting to get tired of listening to the two guards bicker back and forth like a married couple.

“I can’t believe you moved my candlestick last night, Takashi! I told you that it has to stay on the bedside table for a reason. You can’t just move it around to wherever you please!” The first guard whisper shouted out of the corner of his mouth, staring straight ahead.

“For the last time, Adam, I didn’t move it. You moved it next to the sitting room chairs a couple nights ago so that you could read while I slept. Stop trying to blame me!” The other replied, doing the same. The first guard, Adam, took a breath before saying,

“Okay, fine. Maybe you’re right. It didn’t even matter anyway.” A long pause. “Since our shift is almost over, do you want to get some drinks at the pub afterward?” The second guard, Takashi, appeared to ponder this.

“Yeah, sure. You’re paying this time, though.”

“I know. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Geez. What was that? A heated debate that ended in seconds. Prince Lance should’ve taken notes.

Prince Lance turned to see a girl about his age with shoulder-length hair standing in front of the open door.

“Prince Keith is waiting for you in the study. Would you like me to show you the way?” She asked politely. Prince Lance nodded, not trusting his mouth. His hands shook as he followed the servant girl through the hall. When the door to the study opened, Prince Lance took a deep breath and stepped inside. He prayed that he wouldn’t mess anything up.

 

* * *

 

“Prince Lance, finally! Thank you, Romelle. You may be dismissed.” Romelle nodded and walked back through the doors, closing them behind her. “Alright, then. Shall we begin?”  


Prince Lance wouldn’t consider himself a prideful person, but he was proud of the way his kingdom was being run. He hoped Prince Keith would see his family’s side and realize that the Terra-Galra alliance was one to be a part of.

“With this tension building between the kingdoms, we need to know that the alliance we choose to be a part of will be the right choice for us. What can Terra bring to the table?” Prince Keith inquires. Prince Lance didn’t know what to say.

Throughout his life, he had never been allowed into the council meetings. King Alejandro said that he trusts that Prince Lance will make the right choices, but Prince Lance still doesn’t think he’s prepared. For the real world, for meetings with Princes, or even for politics. For the past 18 years, Prince Lance had spent his time around the castle, messing around with the servants, jousting with his friends, and riding his horse around the castle grounds. Never once had he joined in on an important council meeting discussing the fates of the kingdoms. It was at this moment that Prince Lance was starting to wish that he contributed to the kingdom more. He didn’t know how to answer Prince Keith’s question. He wasn’t even aware that there _were_ tensions between the kingdoms in the first place.

“Uh, this might seem a little unprofessional, but I’ve never actually sat in on a council meeting before, so I don’t really know what you are talking about, Your Majesty.” Prince Lance stumbled, trying not to badly represent his kingdom. Prince Keith looked taken aback.

“Never… sat in on a meeting before? I’m sorry, have I heard you correctly, Prince Lance?”

“Lance is fine.”

“So, Prince Lance… Do you mean to tell me that this meeting is a waste of time and the Marmora should just join Altea and Reblia in the pursuit against you? Because that is what I am gathering from this conversation.” Prince Keith clarified, growing increasingly frustrated with Prince Lance’s incompetence.

“No! I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I just, um, I just wanted to say that it is my father, King Alejandro, who makes all the big decisions. Unfortunately, he had a prior commitment, and he could not make it himself, so he asked me to fill in for him. Despite being a prince, I have no political knowledge, so this meeting has become increasingly stressful for me. If we could just take a moment to sort out our shared knowledge about the situation, I would be very grateful,” Prince Lance pleaded hopefully. Prince Keith appeared to pity him because he answered reluctantly,

“I see. Well, since you are already here, and Romelle has already cleared my schedule for the day in preparation for this meeting, I suppose I can allow a small break to fill you in.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“You can just call me Keith.”

“Where should we start, Your Majesty,” Lance snarked back, mocking Prince Keith’s previous response. Keith chuckled,

“Okay. You got me. Let’s begin.”

 

* * *

 

“Okay,” Prince Keith started, “The rundown of the tension. Firstly, Altea is spending too much of their resources trying to help everyone, which sounds like a good thing, theoretically, except they are running low on a lot of resources because they don’t know how to ration their resources for everyone. Secondly, Reblia is a mildly poor kingdom, so Altea is trying to support them with their own wealth, however, in doing so, Altea is neglecting its own people in favor of another kingdom. The Galra have a problem with this because they believe that a kingdom’s wealth should stay within their kingdom. For their people, and nobody else’s. They believe that the other kingdoms should try to support themselves with what they have,” Prince Keith took a pause to breathe and choose his next words carefully.

“Right now, Terra sides with the Galra. You believe that wealth should be prioritized and that all other kingdoms must make do with what they have. Currently, Marmora is undecided. We can see points on either side of the argument, but we cannot decide who is right.”

“And I need to help with this… how?” Prince Lance asked, starting to feel the pressure.

“Well, tensions are starting to grow between Reblia and Galra because the Galra refuse to help Reblia. Terra has begun to grow in tension with Altea because Altea had never offered to help Terra when you needed it. That’s why Terra reiterates the need for each kingdom to make their way on their own. This is also one of the main reasons why Terra sides with the Galra. And finally, all kingdoms are starting to oppose Marmora because we have not made any official statements regarding the issue yet.

“So, that’s how you can help. Help us decide which side has the most logical and fair points. What are your thoughts?” Prince Keith ended his monologue and sat patiently, staring at Prince Lance, awaiting an answer.

Prince Lance appeared to be deep in thought before he slowly started to answer, “Well, Your Majesty, if my kingdom believes that Altea is in the wrong for donating resources to Reblia, there must be a good reason. I trust that we would not side with Prince Lotor just for laughs.” Prince Keith made a small noise between a laugh and a noise of affirmation before allowing Prince Lance to continue. “I believe that Altea is doing the wrong thing by donating to Reblia because they are failing to notice the internal struggles regarding wealth that they will begin to have if they continue to give resources.” Prince Lance took a breath to compose himself. _Okay, now just try to convince him that your way is better. Don’t screw this up like you always do. Father is counting on you. Don’t let him down._

“Altea is wrong because they are being _too_ selfless. Sometimes you have to put yourself before other for your own good. That’s what Altea needs to do.” Prince Lance smiled a little, proud of himself for following in his father’s footsteps. Maybe he really would make a good king.

“Oh, Lance. You always have been selfish, haven’t you?” Keith said, shaking his head, “You really just never know what the right thing to say is. You never have.”

“What do you mean I have _never_ known the right thing to say? We just met this morning. Also, you asked what my view on this issue was, and I gave it to you. Were you just looking for a specific answer? I’m trying to make my family proud, and now that you are all agitated, my father will never trust me with something this important again!”

“Keith cocked his head and seemed not to have listened to Lance’s entire spiel. “Lance. Why won’t you remember?” He raised his right hand into the air and Lance’s eyes widened.

“Wait! I’ve seen this befo-” Lance was cut off. Keith had snapped his fingers with a sad frown on his face.

 

And then everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long to upload! I was on holiday with my family and I didn't have my laptop with me. Now that this is uploaded, I can delete the A/N "chapter" lol. Also, I've started making a Spotify playlist for this fic, and I will post a link to it here when it is done. I had to do a lot more research for this chapter than with all the other chapters because I have no idea how monarchy works. Or castles, for that matter. I hope you enjoyed, and again, I'm sorry for the long wait. The really long wait. I meant to have this out way earlier, but I got caught up with school.
> 
> Have a good day/night!


	4. Whisper, Whisper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow, what a hiatus, huh? I didn't mean for this to take so long, but I was bitten by the writing bug late last night, and I wrote the whole thing in one sitting. So if it's not as good as some of the other chapters, that may be why. I hope you like it!

Lance woke up to his alarm blaring.

“Woah! What a weird dream! I’m glad I’m not actually a Prince. It sounds like too much work. Especially with that dude yelling at me at the end. What was his deal? He seemed like such an asshole.”

Lance changed out of his pajamas and started his daily one and a half hour minute morning routine. He started with a quick 45-minute shower, followed by his thorough face routine. Next, he put on some new clothes and waltzed downstairs for breakfast.

“Hey, Lance! Are you excited? Prom King and Queen nominations are announced today!” Rachel said, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

“Yeah, Lance,” Veronica winked at him and smirked, “I bet Allura will be very excited to hear her name on the list of nominations.” Lance blushed and looked away.

“I’m sure she will,” he said with a small smile gracing his features. Veronica rolled her eyes fondly. Lance shook his head to rid his mind of a daydream before shoveling forkfuls of breakfast into his mouth. He wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of a retort.

* * *

Lance shuffled into the school, trying hard to stop his shaking hands. He had been waiting for this day all month, and now that it was finally here, he was terrified. What if he wasn’t even nominated? What if he was only nominated as a joke? What if Allura says no when he asks her to go to the dance with him? What if she makes a fool out of him in front of everyone? What if they all laugh at him? What if he never lives it down and he has to change schools right before senior year?

Lance had to take a second to breathe. No one wants to have a panic attack at school. Composing himself, Lance looked around for his friends. Pidge, Hunk, Romelle, and _Allura_ were all gathered in the common area chatting and laughing to each other.

“Hey, guys! Whatcha up to?” Lance smiled, grateful for the distraction.

Pidge smirked at him conspiratorially. “Oh, you know. Just predicting who the Prom King and Queen nominees will be. We think Keith will probably be Prom King.” Lance visibly faltered.

“Keith? Who’s Keith?” Lance questioned, trying to seem as nonchalant as possible. Hunk laughed for a second before realizing that Lance was being serious.

“Oh. Sorry, man! I thought you were just joking around. Keith is new this year and everyone is like… _obsessed_ with him. He’s super hot, so we think he’s going to win Prom King.” Hunk shrugged with an apologetic look on his face. Romelle snickered quietly.

Lance put on the brightest smile he could muster. “Don’t worry, buddy. It’s not a big deal. I’ll see you guys at lunch!”

Lance smiled at his friends before walking to his first class. Hopefully, things will only get better. After all, there’s nothing deeper than rock bottom.

* * *

Lance sat in French, twiddling his thumbs. Morning announcements would start soon, and Lance was starting to shake the chair with his vibrating leg.

“...and remember, choose hugs, not drugs! Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for... Prom King and Queen nominations!” Lance’s chair rattled harder.

“For Prom King: Chad Matthews, Bren Pele, Shango Bayu, Connor Davis, Keith Kogane…” Lance zoned out. His legs stopped vibrating. The rattling stopped.

“Finally! Jeez, dude. What’s your problem.”

Keith. The name keeps popping up. Lance doesn't even know him. And yet… He’s everywhere. Lance had never seen him in the halls or in classes, but everyone seems to know him? What was he missing?

“And, now, Prom Queen: Cornelia Foire, Allura Altea, Elysia Tepi, Alizeh Aureole…”

What? Was that all the nominees for Prom King? Lance’s name wasn’t even called. Lance moped with his head face down in his arms.

“...and, finally… Lance McClain?”

Lance blanched. Who? Who would do something like that? Lance could feel the eyes of his classmates boring into the back of his head. They were laughing at him. Whispering. Why? Why him?

“That concludes our morning announcements. A Google form will be sent out later today for you to fill in your choices for Prom King and Queen. Stay fresh Garrison High!”

Lance’s hand shot up.

“Mr. McClain?”

“Bathroom? Please?”

* * *

Everywhere he went, Keith followed.

“I”m voting for Keith.”

“He’s like _sooooooo_ hot!’

“I wonder if Keith will let me sit with him at lunch today.”

“None of the other guys stand a chance.”

“Keith could run me over with his motorcycle, and I’d thank him.”

Motorcycle? Since when did he have a motorcycle? Lance’s shoulders drooped. What a man.

Lance figured everyone would forget about his unfortunate prank by the end of the day, but there was no dent in the remarks he heard as he walked through the halls.

“Gaylord!”

“Dude! Whoever nominated Lance for Prom Queen is a freaking genius, man!”

“Careful, Queen Lance. Don’t want to drop your tiara when you trip!”

“Ha! Nice one, bro! He’s devastated. What a roast!”

“I bet he nominated himself because he wanted to get into Keith’s pants since Keith is totally going to be Prom King.”

Lance’s mind was getting loud. Too loud for him to handle. I hate this. _Somebody get me out! Get me out!_

“Oh, hey! Lance, right? I’m Keith.” Lance stopped in his tracks and found himself standing directly in front of the one and only Keith Kogane. He gaped. Oh, boy! He really was as hot as they all said. There’s no way Lance would have even been _considered_ as a Prom king option with Keith on the ballot. Lance’s eye twitched.

“Hi. Congrats on the nomination.” Lance said with a forced smile. Keith gave him a pity smile before patting him on the shoulder.

“I would say the same, but it seems you aren’t all that excited about your nomination.” Lance shrugged.

“It’s not what I hoped it would be, but a nomination is a nomination. Maybe I might even win,” Lance joked, trying to keep his emotions in check. Keith gave him a half smile before patting his shoulder once more and walking off. Smirking butthead. What does he think he knows? With his sexy walk and hot face. Just kick my head into a ditch, why don’t you?!

“I was right! He is totally trying to get into Keith’s pants.”

Keith looked back and winked. 

* * *

Lance was not looking forward to the prom. After the prank in the morning, Lance didn’t have the courage to ask Allura to go with him. So he sulked the rest of the day until Hunk and Pidge took him out to an early dinner to cheer him up. It didn’t help. When he got home, his dad informed him that there was a problem at the dry cleaner’s, and the white tuxedo that he had rented had turned pink. So now Lance, Prom Queen nominee, was going to the prom wearing a pink tux without a date. Life really works in mysterious ways.

Lance arrived at the gym with a defeated sigh. This might as well happen. He opened the doors and braced himself for any harsh remarks. There they were. His classmates. He grew up with these people, and yet, when it finally came down to it, they didn’t care about him. Maybe they never did. They were all talking to each other and laughing as if their words didn’t puncture holes in the hearts of others.

“Ballot time! It is ballot time! Attention Garrison High prom attendees! Please fill out a ballot for your preferred prom King and Queen. Your votes will be counted in an hour, so make up your mind quickly!”

Lance walked over to the punch table to grab a drink and clear his head. As he was shaking his head, someone bumped into him, and his punch spilled down the front of his pink tux.

“Oh, Lance! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… ruin your tux,” Keith, the man, the myth, the legend, apologized while lance blinked at his tux, then at the drink in Keith’s hand. It took everything he had not to start crying right there.

“It’s fine, man. Really, it is. My tux is already pink anyway, so it’s not like it’s going to show. Don’t worry about it,” Lance said, attempting a smile. Keith grinned.

“Cool! Well, see you on the dance floor then. Also, you should probably tie your shoelaces.” Lance sighed and Keith walked away.  Screw your shoelaces. How could someone possibly be so popular, and so ambiguous at the same time? The world may keep its secrets for now, but Lance would find out eventually.

Lance watched Keith make his way through the crowds of people to the other side of the gym with what was left of his punch. A swarm of giggling girls and guys descended upon him. He just smiled as politely as possible and gave them all short answers.

“Alright, everyone! The time has come. You’ve cast your votes. I have in my hand the names of the Prom King and Queen for 2019. But first, would all the nominees come up to the stage.”

Lance tried to press himself as far to the back as he could, but the strong arm of a football player caught him.

“That means you, McClain. Get on up there,” the football player smirked. Lance timidly made his way up to the stage. He made eye contact with Keith while walking up the steps, and Keith winked. Lance looked away as quickly as possible and rushed to stand next to Allura. She nudged him in the ribs with her elbow and gave him a reassuring smile. He grimaced back at her.

“For Prom King: Keith Kogane!” Cheers from the crowd. Keith took the crown and smiled down at the students.

“I love you, Keith!”

“For Prom Queen: Lance McClain?” A scream from one of the other nominees. Allura raised her eyebrows at Lance. Lance shrugged, seemingly very terrified, and walked over to the center of the stage to accept the tiara. Unfortunately, he tripped on his shoelaces and barely flailed his arms, already accepting death to take him. Until Keith caught him in a dip, that is. Cheers erupted across the gym. Wow, Keith! What a savior! Saving a mortified teenager from death at the last second! Truly a hero.

Lance rolled his eyes before looking up at Keith, who then winked and twirled Lance to his feet. Butthead.

“I guess you guys have a dance now? Enjoy.”

That’s just the way life seemed to be going for Lance that day. Keith took Lance’s wrist and pulled him out to the middle of the dance floor. The DJ started a somewhat slow song, and motioned for the rest of the students to join in. Keith took the lead and placed Lance’s hand around his neck while they swayed. Lance kept his face pointed firmly at the ground. As the danced, Keith tried to start a conversation with Lance, but every time, Lance either ignored it or gave short answers.

“Look, Lance. I’m trying to make this less awkward by just going with it, but if it’s making you uncomfortable, we can stop.” Lance sighed.

“No, it’s fine. Today just hasn’t been my day. Thanks for trying to be nice. Especially since we don’t even know each other,” Lance said, looking at Keith’s tie now. Keith stopped their swaying.

“You don’t remember? You don’t remember me? This is becoming a lot harder than I thought.”

Keith sighed, pulled Lance’s chin up so that they were looking eye to eye, and then he snapped his fingers. 

And everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The other nominees for Prom King and Queen are some Ocs that I have, and they are super cool. If you ever have any questions or you want to know more about them, my instagram is @cutsiecatra
> 
> I didn't go to prom, so the logistics of this is heavily based off of Mean Girls ;)  
> Also, the song that they are dancing to is High School Slow Dance by See Plus.
> 
> Have a great day/night!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my very first fanfiction, so I hope you enjoyed. Sorry that it's so short. I'll make the next ones longer. Here's to hoping it wasn't obvious that I've never been to a real party before... This story is also not beta read so,,, Don't be too harsh lol. I've had this idea for a while, but I really wanted to finish it before Season 8 came out. Guess I'll have to grind this weekend. Please leave a comment with any criticisms or anything like that. I'm hoping to update pretty frequently after this, but it may be hard because I have a bunch of tests next week. Have a nice night/day!


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